


Not afraid

by MementoIssy



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cheesy, Early Work, F/F, Happy Ending, Hollstein - Freeform, Journalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:02:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MementoIssy/pseuds/MementoIssy
Summary: When you meet a stranger that becomes your friend, and then becomes your love interest, could you conquer your fears and get your girl?





	1. Chapter 1

 “Laura it has been nine months you really need to start at least thinking about dating”, LaFontaine huffed, annoyed by their friend.

“I know, it’s just… God! Seven years, and she left like that, how do I suppose to feel now? How am I supposed to go out there and be open to something new?”, Laura paced through the room.

“I don’t know, you just have to, I guess, you can’t spend your life wallowing”, LaFontaine stated.

“I don’t think I can. In every girl I’ll see her and I hate that”, dirty blonde explained.

_________________________

 “Don’t you think you had enough cupcake?” said silvery voice next to Laura.

“You had enough!”, she replied childishly.

“Yeah, that answers my question”, the voice declared.

”Why do you even care?”, Laura asked with a defeated tone in her voice still looking at her glass.

“Well, you don’t seem like the type that frequently visits this kind of establishment, so I don’t want you to hurt yourself by drinking too much.”

“Fine, I’ll have water”, a tipsy girl said, “and I might be a regular here, you don’t know me”, she said weakly.

A person next to her chuckled, making Laura look up, realizing that next to her stood the most beautiful girl she ever seen. Pale skin, big dark eyes and leather pants, “ _Oh God, those leather pants_ ”, Laura thought, “ _Snap out of it you idiot, girls got you into this mess_ ”.  

“Sure, you look like you belong in a bar like this, especially with that sweater you are wearing”, brunette stated.

“What’s wrong with my shoes?” Laura looked down at her white Strappy shoes.

“I said sweater, but the same can be said about your shoes”, stranger teased.  

“What’s wrong with them? Not punk enough for this place?”, the blonde tried to sound rude, but she just seemed so lost.

”Yeah cutie, not punk enough”, brunette agreed and took a sip of her beer.

They stayed like that, leaned on the bar, watching people move around, greet each other, hug, kiss, spill drinks. After a while Laura spoke, “You are right, I’ve never been here before, just needed to escape my usual route”.

“I get it, we all run away from something, but nobody warns us that we cannot escape the demons in our heads”, the stranger next to Laura spoke with a somber voice.  

“That’s deep broody… deeeeeep…”, blonde teased. “But you are not mistaken, I cannot escape myself, ergo vodka, lots and lots of vodka…”, she added.

Brunette puts down her beer and said in a serious tone, “Alcoholism is not the solution, whatever is making you drink I bet there are better ways of dealing”.

“My almost fiancé left me nine months ago, she said I’m too committed to my job, who says things like that?!  Seven years… I knew we haven’t had a great romance, but it was safe, comforting, and peaceful, we loved each other enough…”, Laura stopped for a moment, thinking about her life, ”and I’ve been thinking, going over our relationship, torturing myself with it, and the only thing I realized is that if she couldn’t stay with me who else will…”

She stopped for a while looking at a brick wall at the far end of the room. “… I hate questioning my life like that, so cheers stranger!”  

They drank, both of them, and for a while they fell into a comfortable silence until brunette noticed Laura taking fast sips of her beer, then she spoke, turning towards the blonde.

“Look you’re struggling, okay? And you’re allowed to. Because, cupcake, the Universe is huge, and it’s arbitrary and uncaring. You know, one moment you can get sucked into a Hell pit and the next moment you can get pulverized by a meteor, and really in the grand spectrum of things it’ll mean nothing. You know, people will leave you, they will hurt you, life is like that sometimes.”

Laura looked up, straight into dark and deep eyes of a stranger next to her, “If this is your cheering up speech, it needs a little work”, she said with a heavy smile.

”Give me a break, I was never in a position to comfort somebody like this.”

They both chuckled, looking at each other. “The point is, if nothing means anything than the only thing that means something is what we make. You know?”, the stranger asked.  

“Yeah, I know”, Laura said while nodding, she stopped drinking for a while, analyzing words she heard, “Thank you stranger, I didn’t realize I needed to hear something like that …”, with that she stood straight up, stumbling a bit, “Could you please call me a cab, think I’m ready to go home”, tipsy girl confessed, receiving a nod and a comforting smile from the brunette.   

 _________________________

3 MOTHS LATER

Laura walked into a bar, she got drunk in 3 months ago, she was never a big drinker so that day stayed printed deeply in her mind, and not only because of a hangover she had the next morning. She remembered deep and warm eyes of a stranger, soft words and shy smiles, Laura hopped she would bump into that helpful person once again.

Bar was not crowded, there were a lot of empty tables, and blonde saw a familiar figure leaning on the wall at the far end of the room. She slowly walked towards brunette and spoke, “Hey stranger”.

Brunette pealed here eyes from a label on a beer bottle and smiled when she saw who was standing in front of her, “Hey cupcake”.

“It’s Laura”, blonde offered.

“Carmilla… I wasn’t sure you would remember me…”, said the other girl.

“Of course I remember you, it’s not every day that gorgeous, mysterious stranger gives you world’s best cheer up speech.”, Laura offered, earning a chuckle from Carmilla.

They stood again, looking at each other, surrounded by pleasant chatters of people, when Carmilla spoke, “So is it stepping over boundaries if I ask you how you been?”

“I’ve been good, creating new habits, I finally understand that Danny and I were not a fit for each other, we didn’t share a passion for writing, for life itself, we didn’t have same principles… and I just over shared”, Laura stopped herself.

“It’s okay cupcake, you are cute when you are rumbling.”

Laura felt her cheeks burn after hearing that.

“So any new love affairs? Are you getting back to the dating scene?”, Carmilla’s voice was light and happy, blonde could tell that the other girl is teasing her.

“God, no, I’m not completely insane. That is not for me, I figured I’m better off alone…”, Laura admitted. “So on the other less gloomy note, I would like to buy you coffee and thank you for what you did for me all those months ago.”

“You don’t need to do that, I did what anybody would do”, brunette stated.

“Still, I appreciate it and its been bugging me for a while”, Laura declared and gave a hopeful smile to Carmilla.

“Okay, let me give you my number so you could text me time and place”, said Carmilla typing down her number in Laura’s phone.

They meet up two days after bumping into each other in the bar. Carmilla let Laura choose a place for their meet up, and blonde choose alternative, small coffee shop in a hidden part of a city centre. The cupcake/Coffee shop was easy to locate and Laura was even easier to spot, she was wearing a white shirt with giraffes on it, glasses and she was chewing up the pen while reading something, the whole situation made Carmilla smile.

After their greetings and coffee orders they sat down and Laura spoke, “so I have a confession to make”. Carmilla frowned, not saying a thing, letting the other girl continue with her declaration. “I know who you are”.

“I’m glad cupcake, it would be weird for you to meet people you don’t know for a coffee”, Carmilla said teasingly

”Carmillaaaaaa”, blonde said it almost seriously.

“What is it cutie?”

“I love your stories, your books are something that kept me awake every time you published a new one… I think “Regrets, I’ve had a few” and “Long Goodbyes” are my two favorite stories of all times, and I’m fangirling I’m sorry”, she lowered her eyes, avoiding Carmilla’s stare.

“Don’t apologize, it’s adorable… and I’m glad you love them…”, brunette reassured her and then she spoke again trying to make Laura feel comfortable, “So you know what I do, what do you do for a living?”

“I write for Silas magazine”, the blonde said proudly.  

“Wait, wait, wait, you are Laura Hollis? The Laura Hollis?”, Carmilla almost jumped out of her seat, looking intensely the blonde sitting in front of her. She received a nod and continued speaking, “I love your work! That story about contaminated waters was eye opener”. Laura beamed at this, so the other girl continued talking, “I guess, I’m your fan just like you are mine.”

_________________________

It’s been almost seven months since they had that first coffee, and since then Laura talked to Carmilla every day, they texted, had coffee, watched movies. They were slowly becoming great friends.

Laura ignored how clingy she had been around Carmilla, always searching for some kind of physical contact, a hug, a touch. She knew the other girl was becoming a part of her new routines and habits, and it made her feel anxious and happy at the same time. The blonde was not stupid, she knew that her feelings for gloomy brunette were not just friendly, but she was convinced that being with Carmilla would hurt her.

So in a moment like this, when Carmilla was forced by her older sister to go out on a date, Laura found herself in a bar drinking her 4th glass of gin tonic. Trying to dull a physical pain she was feeling just thinking about Carmilla and anybody else, and she was trying to drown her thoughts as well.

Her phone rang, interrupting her in a mid sip, “Heyyyyyy”, Laura answered a little bit too enthusiastically.

“Cupcake are you drunk?”, a voice asked, not worried just curious.

“Noooop…”

“Where are you?”, Carmilla was now serious.  

“Someplace cool”, Laura offered.

“I’ll be there in 20.”

Laura just puts down her phone, not expecting Carmilla to actually find her. So she took a swing of her drink and walked to the pool table, finding some guys to play with her.

Carmilla found her there, leaned on a pool table, trying to hit a ball. She didn’t want to disturb tipsy blonde so she just gently asked, “So what’s the occasion?”

“I just wanted a drink”, Laura replied, not looking up.  

“Sure”, the brunette didn’t believe her, cause she knew Laura doesn’t drink. Carmilla wanted to get to the bottom of this when Laura interrupted her.

“How did you know where I am?”

“Face it cutie, I know you”, Carmilla’s voice was playfully, still watching Laura play, but walking over to her side of the table. “Wild horses” started playing on the speakers and Laura sobered in a moment, she dropped her cue stick on a table and looked seriously at Carmilla. “Dance with me”, and brunette just nodded and took her hand. They swayed slowly, Laura’s head on Carmilla’s shoulder, her hands on the other girl’s back.

“You wrote in one of your stories that you know what kids did back for kicks in 1698, tell me…”, Laura said moving her head so she could look Carmilla in the eyes.

“Waltzing was fun back then, it had a resound scandal”, she said plainly.

“How is waltzing scandalous?”, Laura was asking again, her hands slowly roaming over Carmilla’s back.

“Well partners were face to face”, Carmilla said, pulling Laura closer and grabbing her hands, “chest to chest. All that whirling.”, she let Laura twirl and then pulled her closer once again, ”back in 1698 it may as well have been sex”.

For a few seconds they just stood like that, hand in hand, body pressed to another body, their eyes burning holes into each other. Laura cleared her throat, barely saying, “it sounds like fun”.  

_________________________

Muffled guitar riffs and some kind of hissing woke Laura up. She stayed over in Carmilla’s guest room since she was too drunk to go home last night. And even with a hangover blonde could catch a smell of something tasty cooking in the kitchen. She was careful not to be seen and heard. Carmilla was making waffles by the look of it, just wearing a large red shirt and flannel PJ’s, she didn’t dance to the rhythm of the music but she hummed a melody.  

“So you still didn’t tell me why were you drinking last night”, the brunette said not looking up to meet Laura’s eyes.

The blonde just shrugged, “no reason”, and continued to watch Carmilla move through the kitchen.

“LAURA”, the brunette was narrowing her eyes and looking up.

“CARMILLA”, Laura mockingly said other girl’s name, trying to avoid the asked question.

Carmilla’s expression softened and she offered a small smile, “You can tell me anything, you know?” It was more a declaration than a question.  

“I know.” the other girl responded softly.

“So why don’t you?”, came a question from Carmilla, it was said in a soft voice, like she was afraid she might scare Laura if she said it louder.

“Soon”, Laura said.  

_________________________

They got back to normal, Laura would work, Carmilla would write, and when they had free time they would have coffee, watch movies. Carmilla even took Laura to her cabin outside of the city.  They talked about books, drank wine, made plans about going to Paris.

And then it happened again, only this time Will, Carmilla’s brother set her up with some friend of his. Laura tried to keep herself busy that night, but she caved under the pressure of thoughts about her friend and her date. She put her black sweater on, the only one without any kind of print on it, and walked out of her house.

Laura lost track of time, she drank and chatted with people, but she still thought about her brunette friend, her brunette friend that was standing at the entrance scanning the bar. And she approached the blonde when she finally saw her.

“How did you know I was here?”, Laura asked.

“Well, since I haven’t found you at your apartment, I called Perry and you weren’t there, so I figured out you are hiding here”, Carmilla explained plainly.

“Stalker much?”

“What’s wrong Laura…”, Carmilla asked in a low voice, “Please tell me”, she pleaded.

Blonde waved off with her hand and huffed, “Nothing’s wrong”.  

Carmilla still stared at her, eyes never leaving Laura’s face, “fine, I’ve been thinking about somebody and I’m terrified”.

Carmilla wasn’t expecting this kind of thing troubling her friend.  She thought that maybe one day, when Laura gets over her fear of commitment, that they could try and be together, cause they were so good together, they fitted into each other’s lives. But obviously Carmilla was wrong since Laura already has her eyes, or heart set on somebody. This hurt brunette more than she was willing to show, but all she wanted was for Laura to be happy and if that other girl is making her happy, Carmilla was willing to never let her feelings get in the way.    

“Why are you terrified?”

“Cause”, Laura paused and gave an honest but scared look to her friend, “Carmilla, you have the power to destroy me”.  

They both just stared at each other, Laura concentrating on a color of Carmilla’s eyes, while the brunette stared at the journalist’s trembling lip.  

“I would never do that to you cupcake…”, came in a thick voice, and Carmilla finally looked Laura in the eyes, “is this why you were here last two times I was out on a date?”, Laura just nodded. “Jesus, Laura, we have to work on your communication skills”. The blonde just looked at her with a confused look. “This”, Carmilla waved her hand in front of Laura’s face, “all of this wallowing and brooding, I was thinking you were turning into me…”.

“Come here”, she pulled blonde into a hug, ”I want to take you out, on a date, and I want to show you that you are safe with me, that I won’t hurt you, leave you, make you choose between your job and me, your friends and me, I’ll support you. I will love you the way you desire to be loved”.

Laura squeaked and buried her head into Carmilla’s neck, with a smile on her lips.   

_________________________

**Laura (5:12):**  Why am I nervous this much?

**Laura (5:12):**  Why am I telling you I am nervous this much?

**Carm (5:14):**  breathe cupcake, it’s just me, I won’t bite

**Carm (5:15):**   at least not on a first date ;)

**Laura (5:16):**  tease :P

 

Carmilla picked her up around 7pm, giving Laura a box of cookies, saying the blonde would appreciate them more than flowers. They got to Carmilla’s place and climbed to the rooftop of the building.

“You really go all out, don’t you”, blonde teased.

“Only for you Laura, only for you”, Carmilla replied, giving her a wink.

They sat down on a blanket surrounded by pillows and a bunch of sweet things, like cookies, hot cocoa, and juices, there was even a pizza. The projector was playing a movie, but the girls were too wrapped up in each other that they haven’t even paid attention to it. They talked, cuddled, Carmilla talked about stars and Laura gently stroked her hair, listening everything brunette had to say.  

_________________________

Their date ended when it was too cold for them to be outside, and Carmilla walked Laura to her place. Standing outside while blonde looked for her keys in a bag.

“You wanna come in? We could watch a movie, talk some more”, Laura smile, her voice filled with flirting.

“Cupcake…”, Carmilla had to fight with herself about this, “you know that’s not what we’ll do”, she offered a smile, “and I want to do this right”.

“Carmmmm”, Laura whined and pouted, “We are both adults, I think you don’t have to worry about my innocence”.  

“I know, I just really, really want to do this right”, she said, pulling Laura slowly in for a kiss. Laura’s hands automatically reached for the other girl’s shirt, pulling her even closer, until their bodies were pressed together.  

“Mmmmmm, you sure I can’t make you change your mind?”, blonde asked again a little bit more flirty, touching Carmilla’s belly trough her shirt.

“Good night cupcake”, Carmilla said, leaving chaste kiss on Laura’s lips.   

 

 

 


	2. Date No2

Laura went inside, turned on her laptop and scrolled trough Netflix not really paying attention to it, she thought about her date with Carmilla, about a lovely night filled with soft but careful touches and gentle words; she waited for a few more minutes before typing a message to Carmilla.

**Laura (10:56):** I had a great time Carm

**Carm (10:58):** I’m glad cupcake

**Carm (10:58):** Me too

**Laura (11:00):** Is it weird that I kind of miss you?

Honey blonde bit her lip, feeling slightly embarrassed, so she quickly typed another message.     

**Laura (11:00):** Don’t answer that

**Laura (11:00):** it’s weird…

**Carm (11:02):** it’s not weird, I’m an excellent company cutie, so who could blame you

**Laura (11:03):** Keep up that attitude and we’ll see

**Carm (11:03):** I’m kidding

**Carm (11:04):** I miss you as well, by now I’m used to you and your rumbling personality

Laura rolled her eyes while reading the brunette’s reply.

**Laura (11:05):** Carmmmmmm

**Laura (11:05):** You are being mean

**Carm (11:07):** Laura you are the only person I want to spend time with

**Carm (11:07):** Does that tell you something?

**Laura (11:08):** Carmilla Karnstein, the broody and mysterious writer likes me :D

**Carm (11:10):** be a child Laura Hollis, see if I care

**Laura (11:11):** don’t pout

**Laura (11:11):** I know you are pouting

**Laura (11:12):** I can almost see it

**Laura (11:12):** Carmmmmmm

**Laura (11:13):** Don’t be mad

**Laura (11:14):** I didn’t mean to upset you

**Carm (11:16):** Cupcake how you manage to rumble via text I’ll never understand  

Laura wanted to stop this pointless bickering she had going on with Carmilla, not because she didn’t enjoy their verbal matches, but because she really needed to ask the other girl a question.   

**Laura (11:16):** so when am I seeing you again?

**Carm (11:18):** soon

Carmilla replied fast and quickly typed in a computer browser. When she found the information she was looking for, she sent another message to Laura.

**Carm (11:22):** Are you free on Sunday?

**Laura (11:23):** I am now

Brunette grinned reading this. 

**Carm (11:24):** Ill pick you up around 4pm, dress casually

 

SUNDAY

Carmilla showed up in front of Laura’s door wearing tight black jeans and a white shirt that said “Sex, drugs, rock n roll”, holding her sunglasses in left hand, blonde never seen her look so relaxed and casual. It was a rare sight to see Carmilla without her leather pants, but Laura didn’t mind this look at all. She was just glad that her and Carmilla’s version of casual are similar, since Laura was wearing her dark blue jeans and a plain red shirt.

Carmilla gave her a hug and a gentle kiss before grabbing her hand and tugging the blonde outside.

“C’mon, we don’t want to be late cupcake”, the brunette said.

“Where are we going Carm?”

“We are going to a trivia night at the local bar”, Carmilla explained.

With that Laura stopped walking and just looked at the other girl, like she was contemplating what to say or how to say it.  

Carmilla stopped as well looking at the honey blonde trying to recognize the emotion on her face “You don’t like it? We can go someplace else”, she blurted out, not wanting to push Laura to do something she doesn’t want to.

“No, Carm I love it! I always wanted to go, but LaF usually makes fun of me and I’m left without a partner”, Laura was now bouncing around like a kid in a candy store. “It sounds perfect”.  

“Well cupcake I gathered I can use your geeky knowledge of a popular culture in my advance”, Carmilla smirked and Laura slapped her playfully.

“You are just as big of a nerd as am I”, Laura stated.

“And whose fault is that cutie? I was a creature of the night before I met you.” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure you were… Carmilla the vampire”, blonde teased as they continued walking. They bickered all the way to the bar.

By the end of the night they didn’t win, but Carmilla discovered that Laura is very competitive and that she mumbles all kinds of curses when she gets a question wrong. Laura noticed that her date knows a little bit too much about literature and almost nothing about pop culture and that got her smiling because she will have something to teach Carmilla.  

“Cupcake we lost, how are you this cheerful?” said the brunette while watching Laura bounce around her. “Beer does strange things to you, I just noticed that”, she teased the other girl.

“It doesn’t! I am an excellent beer drinker, thank you very much”, Laura said and continued bouncing around.

“Sure you are cutie”, Carmilla confirmed and put her arm around Laura’s waist, keeping the other girl in a slow walking pace.

“And I’m cheerful cause this was a best date ever Carm, thank you”, Laura finished by giving Carmilla a long but chaste kiss.

It took them longer than expected to reach Laura’s home, but when they did Laura just pulled the other girl inside and declared that they are watching Buffy because “ _God Carm! How can you say you never watched Buffy that should be illegal_ ”.

They fell asleep on a couch all cuddled up while 3rd episode was playing on Laura’s laptop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a while, I know, but being a journalist in this day and age means no free time for anything else...  
> I hope you guys like this one


	3. 3rd date

They haven’t seen each other all week, between Carmilla’s new chapter deadline and Laura’s eventful job they barely slept Monday through Friday. So when Carmilla finally made up for the lack of sleep, she texted Laura in hope of setting up another date.

 **Carm (1:22):** Cutie…

 **Laura (1:23):** Sexy…

 **Carm (1:23):** I see you learned that flattering will get you everywhere

 **Laura (1:24):** I learned from the best ;)

Did you finally get enough sleep?

 **Carm (1:26):** Yeah, I did… How about you?

 **Laura (1:27):** Still in bed, debating should I call LaF and ask them to bring me some food

Carmilla chuckled reading this.

 **Carm (1:28):** Well, I’m glad you are enjoying yourself cupcake

I was wondering if you are free tomorrow, I want to take you out

Haven’t seen you in a week

 **Laura (1:32):** Awwwwww you miss meeeeeeee

 **Carm (1:33):** Nobody is annoying me when you are not around

So tomorrow, are you free?

 **Laura (1:35):** Sure I am Carm

I see Sunday is going to be our date day

So what are we doing tomorrow?

 **Carm (1:38):** For you cupcake, everyday could be a date day

 **Laura (1:39):** You are such a sap

It’s adorable

 **Carm (1:42):** Sure cutie whatever you say :P

I’m going to take a shower, call you later?

 **Laura (1:44):** Okay, I’m going to continue my beauty sleep until then

 **Carm (1:46):** It’s not like you need it xx

 

SUNDAY

This time Carmilla and Laura drove to their destination. Laura talked about her work week, chatty young journalist that she is mentoring, about awesome 9 hours long sleep she had on Saturday, while Carmilla hummed in response, smiling and keeping her eyes on the road.

After a short drive Carmilla parked her car in front of a small ice cream shop that seemed to be closed.

“Amm Carm… I don’t think they are open”, Laura pointed towards the “CLOSED” sign on the door.

“They are not cupcake”, brunette stated and walked to the door, pulling a key from her jacket. “But since when is that a problem?” She smirked and opened a door, “C’mon, I promise you’ll enjoy this”.

Laura obeyed and followed the brunette into the shop.

The store was filled with colorful chairs and big, hot pink bar with ice cream decoration on it. Everything was in bright colors, it made Laura feel like a child again.

“Did you rent this place?” She finally asked after detail scan of the room.

“No cupcake, a friend of mine owns it and he had some family errands to run across the country so he closed the shop for a week, I asked if I could use it and here we are”, Carmilla explained.  

Laura nodded with a big smile on her face, “so what are we doing here?”

Carmilla took the blonde’s hands and guided her to a back room, “we are making ice cream together cupcake”.

Laura squealed and jumped around, hugging the brunette.   

“Oh my god, I swear your sugar addiction is worrying me sometimes”, Carmilla pretended to be annoyed by an overly ecstatic girl.

“Yeah, that’s why you brought me to an ice cream shop”, Laura teased, “you are worried about my addiction”, she added using the air quotes on a word addiction.  

“Well I’ll admit, it’s fun watching you while you are high on sugar”, brunette grinned.  

Laura pouted, “stop teasing me and show me the goodies, I want to make a chocolate cookie ice cream with some blueberries, or strawberries”, honey blonde continued mumbling about fruit that she wants to put on an ice cream while Carmilla watched her, falling even more in love with a strange little ray of sunshine that’s Laura Hollis.  

After two, maybe three hours of weird mixes, some surprisingly good and then some uneatable bad Carmilla took Laura back home.

“I can’t believe you did that for me, that was like a best date ever”, said Laura while pulling the other girl into a tight hug.

Carmilla replied by giving her a soft kiss that quickly heated. They kissed for a while, Laura pinned between her front door and Carmilla’s body, her hands tangled deeply into other girl’s hair.

Carmilla was the first to pull away, clearing her throat, trying to catch her breath. “I had so much fun with you today cupcake”, she brought their foreheads together, “and we should do this again soon”.

“Mhmmm we definitely should, but I’m taking you out this time”, Laura said confidently.

“I’m looking forward to it cute”, brunette admitted and closed the distance between their lips again.  

It took them another 30 minutes to say goodbye to each other that night.


	4. 4th date

Laura was not freaking out. Laura was definitely, one hundred percent not freaking out about her date with Carmilla this Wednesday. She could plan a date, how hard can it be? People do it all the time; hell Carmilla did it 3 times already. And she knows Carmilla, so this should be easy.

Laura was wrong; it’s not easy at all. What if she messes up, what if Carmilla hates whatever she plans, she took Laura to 3 incredible dates it almost seems wrong to not return that kind of sentiment. Laura paced trough her living room thinking, listing pros and cons of simple dinner at an Italian restaurant, or a movie, or a walk. It all seemed too simple, too common. Not worthy of Carmilla.

Laura reflected on her dates with Danny, somehow they always ended up going to see a movie or a game, not that Laura complained then, but now, now she doesn’t want to be that kind of couple with Carmilla. She wants to show brunette beauty how much she cares.

“Damn it Hollis, think!”, Laura said to herself. And then it hit her, perfect, low key but incredible idea for a “middle of the work week date”.

 

 WEDNESDAY

Laura got stuck in the office following up on an article she wrote that morning. She was not going to be able to go home before her date with Carmilla. Journalist texted the brunette to pick her up at work around 7pm apologizing in advance that she won’t be picking Carmilla up from her home.

“Hey cutie”, Carmilla greeted visibly grumpy blonde.

Laura just launched herself towards the other girl, pulling her into a tight hug. “Sorry”, Laura mumbled, “I read somewhere that hugs are a great way to relieve stress”.

Brunette kissed her temple and just squeezed her tighter, “you don’t need a reason to hug me”.

After a few minutes in Carmilla’s arms, Laura was stress free and ready for their date. She grabbed the brunette’s hand and dragged her into a car. They drove to a park on the rim of the city. Paths in the park were lighted by low neon lights that barely reached to people’s knees, creating almost a perfect darkness. The night was warm and bright, perfect for the things Laura had in mind.

They slowly walked hand in hand, just talking, being with each other, and when they reached a pasture Laura pulled blanket, sky charts and a pair of binoculars out of her backpack.

“I researched stargazing”, the blonde admitted, giving the other girl a sky chart, “those articles said that we don’t need a telescope if the sky is crystal clear”.

Carmilla hummed in agreement, pulling Laura down to sit on a blanket, between her legs. They sat like that for some time, Laura absorbed everything that’s Carmilla – her voice, the way her hands feel, the way her lips feel. It was a perfect night after a horrible day at work. She could get used to this, to this feeling of serenity and she was finally not afraid of it.

It was almost 11pm when they reached Laura’s front door and Carmilla said she is leaving, making Laura feel gloomy again. She hoped that the brunette would stay, so they could finally spend the night together and not just cuddled up on the couch watching TV.  

Laura tried not to dwell on a fact that Carmilla left, but the thought kept on bugging her so she texted the other girl needing to know the answer to many questions that popped in her mind.  

**Laura (00:23):** Do you not find me attractive?

She didn’t expect a reply this quick; she thought that Carmilla fell asleep.  

**Carm (00:24):** What?

**Laura (00:24):** You left…  

**INCOMING CALL: Carm**

**Carm (00:25):** Laura pick up

**Laura (00:26):** it’s easier not to hear your voice now Carm…

**Carm (00:27):** okay

 Talk to me  

**Laura (00:29):** you left

**Carm (00:30):** you got work tomorrow cupcake

**Laura (00:30):** I know

**Carm (00:31):** tell me what’s wrong

**Laura (00:33):** we haven’t had sex yet

Carmilla stared at her phone, she tried typing something, but she didn’t know what, what should she say…

**Carm (00:41):** okay…

 I don’t get it

**Laura (00:43):** you don’t find me attractive

**Carm (00:43):** Stop saying that!

**Laura (00:44):** I know how “dating thing” goes

Laura started typing next sentence when Carmilla answered quickly.  

**Carm (00:44):** NO YOU DON’T!

 You’ve been in a 7 year long relationship straight out of high school

 You haven’t dated after that, not until now

So cupcake you don’t know how the “dating thing” goes

 May I call you? Please, I just want to say something to you, you don’t have to talk

**Laura (00:52):** okay

**INCOMING CALL: Carm**

“Cupcake, this is a good step in our communication, you are not drinking in some bar that’s too punk for you”, Carmilla’s voice was light, she was trying to calm herself not wanting to freak out Laura even more than she already was, “listen, I really didn’t want to do this over a phone, but Laura, every relationship is different, we all have our own pace. You and I, we are transiting from friends to something different, I don’t want to mess that up by going way too fast”, she was quiet for a moment, trying to form a next sentence, it was hard talking like this, being cautious of someone’s feelings, in all her life Carmilla never really cared enough to do that. “And do I find you attractive? Jesus, Laura!” She huffed and decided to give a poor girl something to think about, “just kissing you makes me wetter than ever”. She heard Laura gasp and chuckled. “Are we good? Have you stopped freaking out?”

“Yes. I’m sorry”, the blonde said softly.

“You don’t have to be sorry for talking to me cupcake. I’ll always be there to listen to you.”

Laura had tears in her eyes, she was overwhelmed by the feelings she had for Carmilla, and by the way the other girl is talking to her, like she is the only thing that matters. “Thanks Carm, I needed to hear that”, she admitted, and yawned. “We should go to sleep or you’ll be grumpy all day tomorrow”, Laura said, now with a light voice.

“Good night cupcake.”       


	5. THE DATE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the late update the work has been keeping me busy  
> Hope you guys like it :)

Laura was getting restless. It has been 3 months since Carmilla and she started dating, 3 months of thoughtful dates, movie nights, make out sessions, 3 months and Carmilla still didn’t indicate she wanted more. Laura was getting all hot and bothered just by looking at DVD cases of Buffy, because now they remind her of kissing Carmilla, of straddling her on the couch. Honey blonde decided that tonight was the night she will seduce her broody, gentlewoman of a girlfriend.

Carmilla invited her for a dinner, “ _I’m_ _cooking for you cupcake, get ready to be impressed_ ”, she said.  

Laura strategically picked out her outfit, tightest black jeans that perfectly showed her legs, combined with silky, dark button up that revealed just enough of cleavage. 

Carmilla’s home was usually filled with scattered papers, empty coffee mugs and books dropped on every surface, but tonight coffee table in the living room was empty, books were neatly put on the shelves, and empty mugs were nowhere to be found. Carmilla greeted honey blonde with a kiss and lead her to the kitchen where she was in the middle of preparing dinner.

Laura’s eyes were glued to the brunette’s body, the way she moved to the soft guitar sounds that were coming from the speakers. Carmilla suddenly turned around catching the other girl in the act. Laura just smirked, not embarrassed by being caught.

“Are my jeans that interesting cupcake?”, Carmilla teased, making Laura bite her lip and smile.

“What’s in them is interesting”, Laura offered, groaning internally about how stupid that line sounded.

Dinner passed with a pleasant conversation about their work days and LaF’s unsuccessful experiment that left them with no eyebrows once again.

“I was thinking we could watch that movie you told me about, you know, that one that was a book and a movie and now is a TV show”, Carmilla tried to remember the name.

Laura just shook her head, playful smirking, “and here I was thinking we could play some music and make out”.

The brunette just smirked and grabbed the honey blonde by the hand, leading her to the couch in the living room. Their kisses quickly became heated and just when Laura was about to pull Carmilla’s shirt off her hands were stopped by the brunette.

“Carmmmm”, Laura groaned, leaning their foreheads together.

“Cupcake you know that I want to, right?” Carmilla asked, eyes closed, trying to steady her breathing.

“Then why don’t you? Why don’t we?” Laura spoke out, “what’s the problem?”, she asked, putting some space between them.

“I just… I just want you to be sure”, Carmilla admitted, “and before you say anything, I’m not talking about sleeping together, I want you to be sure that we are not another safe thing you are choosing”, the brunette’s voice was timid, her eyes locked on her hands.

“Carm…”, Laura reached and took Carmilla’s hands in hers, “look at me”, she pleaded, “you are my safe, you are my peaceful and comforting place, but you are so much more, you are my can’t wait to fall asleep in her arms, my can’t wait to share this idea with her, you are my can’t wait to kiss her. You are so much”, the journalist said, pronouncing every word, making sure the girl next to her understood. She didn’t get to say anything more, because Carmilla kissed her with such passion that left her speechless.     

“Bed…”, Carmilla murmured between kisses, “Laura… bed… now…”. And they stumbled to the bed, leaving a path of knocked down things and clothes.   

Laura woke up feeling a hand pressed on her stomach and an arm under her head, she just pressed herself closer to the body behind her, enjoying the feeling of belonging.

After a while she slowly turned around and pressed a soft kiss on Carmilla’s lips making the girl smile.

“I knew you are awake”, honey blonde stated in a groggy voice.

“Cupcake… it’s still early, sleep…”, brunette ordered softly, pulling the other girl even closer to her body.

“But it’s a beautiful morning Carm”, Laura offered, putting a couple of more kisses on the other girls face.

“If you make me get up I’m never sleeping with you again”, brunette teased.

The journalist huffed, but slowly set her head on the other girl’s shoulder, “fine, another hour”.

“That’s all I’m asking for sweetheart”, Carmilla planted a kiss on her temple and fell asleep once again.  


End file.
